Children’s Rights and the Law Event Report

In September 2024, the Children’s Legal Centre Wales was honoured to host the Child Law Network UK in Wales for the first time. The Child Law Network was established in 2019 and is a group of 9 legal NGOs, from across the UK who share the same aim that all children who come into contact with the law have a right to specialist legal representation, advice and information to enable them to realise their rights.

To mark this occasion, we hosted a Wales-wide multi-agency event to bring together colleagues from across Wales to critically consider the issues affecting children and learn from the Child Law Network how they have used the law strategically to achieve change for children. This included insights into rights violations the children they work with are currently facing and action they are taking to address these violations.

The event started with 2 excellent video addresses from Rocio Cifuentes, our Children’s Commissioner for Wales, followed by Buffy Williams, Labour MS and Chair of the Senedd Children, Young People and Education Committee.

Children’s rights were a consistent theme and through the discussions and presentations, we were made aware of the inequity in realisation of rights across the jurisdictions of the UK.  We acknowledged that we have made progress in Wales with the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011 and follow on legislation, but this does not go far enough. We hope to see Welsh Government honour their commitment to incorporate all human rights treaties directly into Welsh law and all public bodies compelled to act compatibly with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). We would also like to see Welsh Government advocate that the UK Government raises the age of criminal responsibility and makes a stronger commitment to children’s rights through incorporating the UNCRC into UK law.

We are of course aware that law reform is only part of the answer and agree with participants more must be done to ensure that the realisation of children’s rights also happens at the point of service delivery and in children’s day-to-day lives.

Presentations and working groups focused on issues in relation to UNCRC incorporation, youth justice, school exclusions, additional learning needs, children in the care system and asylum and immigration.

A heartfelt thank you to Esmee Fairbairn Foundation for not only funding the CLC Wales, but the Network and event itself. Without this the real changes we are striving to achieve across Wales and the UK would not be possible.